Door-fastener



(No Model.)

0. L. WARD. DOOR FASTENER.

No. 407.140. Patented July 16, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. \VARD, OF OAVENDISlI, VERMONT.

DOOR-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 407,140, dated July 16,1889.

Application filed April 8, 1889- Serial No. 306,407. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. WARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cavendish, in the county of \Yindsor and State of Vermont,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Fasteners, ofwhich the following is a full and clear description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, inwhich Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a door with my improvedfastening device Fig. 2 is a detail to be referred to.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in means forsecuring the sliding doors of cars, barns, sheds, &c.; and it consistsin the constructions and combinations of devices, which I shallhereinafter fully describe and claim.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willnow describe its construction and indicate the manner in which I carryout the same.

In the said drawings, A represents the easing of a car, barn, or otherdoor, and Bis the sliding door, which may be mounted in guides in anysuitable manner, and is provided with the slotted casting or bracket 0.Secured to the door by a pivot or bolt a passing through its lower endis an arm or lever D, which is curved at its central portion to enableit to be readily grasped by the operator, and the upper end of said armor handle is mounted in and works freely in the slot in the casting orbracket 0 before mentioned.

The arm or handle D is formed with an arm E,which extends at about rightangles therefrom, and has its forward or outer end provided with aspear-shaped or other head I), which, in connection with a suitablekeeper secured to the casting A, forms a latch by means of which thedoor is securely held when desired. Ahole c is made transversely throughthe head of the arm E, and thishole may be used to receive the lock orthe seals used on freight-cars.

Hy invention, when applied to ear-doors, is of great value, as when thedoor is pushed to, the spear-head or catch engages the keeper andautomatically holds the door in a locked condition, and in cases wherethe doors run very smoothly in or on their guides a slight movement ofthe door will cause it to run forward, so that its latch or spear-headwill readily engage the catch or keeper. This catch or keeper has itsopening provided with beveled walls 6 on all sides, and the spear-heador latch is likewise beveled, so that in pushing the door to, thespear-head or latch will strike upon the beveled portions of the catchor keeper and be directed safely into the position shown in Fig. 1.

In opening the door the operator simply grasps the handle portion andpushes it backward, which movement, because of the upper end being free,raises the arm E, which is preferably formed integral with the handleportion, and therebylifts the latch or spear-head out of its engagementwith the catch and permits the door to be readily moved back bycontinuing the pressure upon the handle portion.

From this description it will be seen that I provide a simple and strongmeans for securing all forms of rolling and sliding doors and soconstruct the parts that the movement in pushing the door back alsolifts the latch from its engagement with the catch or keeper.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The door having the slotted casting or bracket 0, in combination witha combined handle and latch consisting of the handle portion pivoted atits lower end to the door and having its upper end playing loosely insaid slotted casting and being guided thereby, a latching-arm projectingfrom the handle portion above the pivot-connection, and a catch orkeeper with which the head of the latching-arm engages, substantially asdescribed.

2. A door-fastener consisting of the door with its slotted cast-ing, apivoted handle portion secured to the door having its upper end playingloosely in the slotted casting, and an integral latching-arm projectingtherefrom having its head spear-shaped and tapered or beveled, incombination with a slotted catch or keeper having its inner wallsbeveled, substantially as described.

CHARLES L. ARD.

Vitnesses:

GEORGE II. SPAFFORD, ALBERTA M. SMITH.

